The Huaqiangbei electronics market in Shenzhen, often described as China’s “Hardware Silicon Valley,” is driving a high-tech spending surge.
Strong demand for products such as drones, artificial intelligence (AI) glasses, and a renewed public interest in robots following their appearance at the nationally televised Spring Festival Gala, are collectively fuelling a broader wave of technology-driven expenditure across the Greater Bay Area (GBA), the Global Times reports.
Real sales figures compiled from the Huaqiangbei market reveal a powerful upturn. By Sunday, overall revenue across the market had increased by 35 percent compared to the same period last year. Sales of technology products around the Spring Festival holidays rose by more than 30 percent above typical trading levels, with AI glasses seeing an exceptional rise of up to 80 percent, according to reporting by Guangzhou Daily.
[See more: China ramps up efforts to boost spending in the Lunar New Year holidays]
In the run-up to the Spring Festival, the Shenzhen market compiled a top-eight list of AI sales covering the previous two months. The ranking featured products such as drones, robots, AI glasses, toys, watches, and translators, alongside AI learning devices and speakers. This variety highlights growth across core AI hardware segments including smart companionship, wearable intelligence, cross-border communication, education, health management, and the low-altitude economy.
Liu Dingding, a technology analyst, told the Times that as technology becomes more closely integrated with mass consumption, it is expected to maximise consumer momentum while strengthening a positive cycle with industrial development.
This expansion in technology-related spending is supported by government policy. On 2 February, nine government departments launched a special consumption campaign during the nine-day Spring Festival holidays, allocating 62.5 billion yuan in consumption subsidies to local governments for categories including digital and smart appliances.
